


Prologue: 15 years ago

by Vsquaredk



Series: Trimberly Future Fic (title TBD) [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Gen, M/M, hints of trimberly if you squint, idek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 00:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16629635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vsquaredk/pseuds/Vsquaredk
Summary: "Soon after Rita, the Rangers collectively realize that their future plans are officially awry; they can’t wander far from the Zeo Crystal for long."Prologue for a TBD future-fic concept.





	Prologue: 15 years ago

**Author's Note:**

> Don't expect this series to be updated ever.  
> Honestly, don't.  
> Oh, and I doubt Tommy will be making an appearance.

They slap Rita into the next solar system. It feels like the end of a chapter that’s barely started.

 

* * *

 

Soon after Rita, the Rangers collectively realize that their future plans are officially awry; they can’t wander far from the Zeo Crystal for long. That means Kim can’t leave the stupid little town she hates. That means, if Trini’s family decides to move again, they’ll have to leave her behind. That means Jason is stuck in the family home, stifling under the weight of his dad’s disappointment and shame. That means Billy can’t go to MIT, or Harvard, or wherever it was he wanted to go, and learn everything he wants to.

The only one that doesn’t seem to bothered by this news is Zack. Zack, who merely shrugs whenever the others complain, but stays out of it. He takes his GED so that he can find steadier employment to take care of his mom without truancy officers getting on his ass. He finds two day jobs and an evening job, and if he uses a little bit of his Ranger powers to get things done faster, no one notices. The employee discounts at the grocery store and leftovers from the bar he busses help him take care of his mom better. He loves the smiles she gives him when he’s able to spend more time at home with her.

The other four Rangers bitterly snap at each other, and anyone who so much as glances at them, for months before coming to terms with the idea that all their dreams of escaping Angel Grove have been dashed. It is quiet for a while after that, once they begrudgingly come to terms with their new prison. Their families tiptoe around each of them, unsure if they will snap, and the topic of college, or the future, becomes taboo for all of them. They each cope in their own way:

Kim’s smiles stop reaching her eyes, and she spends all of her free time going for runs that, if this was before Rita, would have had her crumple into the ground with fatigue. When her parents question her, she claims the running is meditative, and helps her clear her mind (She’s lying. It’s actually frustrating. She wants, no, craves the burn in her lungs, the blisters on her feet, the burn of lactic acid in her muscles. The punishing exhaustion that should come from runs of such length and speed never does. In fact, she barely breaks a sweat. Still, she runs).

Trini’s humor somehow takes an even more caustic turn. She turns further inward, more time listening to heavy metal, more time out of the house, on the cliffs. The splinters on her bedroom door from slamming it so much make her mom wince. There are nights where she disappears for a while and no one knows how to contact her. There are mornings where she walks into school with raw knuckles and cold, bloodshot eyes. If she’s more reckless during their training sessions, no one mentions it (Kim always shakes her head as she gently dresses Trini’s wounds, but after the first time she brought it up and Trini had disappeared for a week, she learned to hold her tongue).

Jason throws himself into rebuilding the town. He’s not sure what else he can do as he watches his team members splinter apart beyond be there if they need him to be, so he distracts himself by pushing his emotions aside and trying to find use for himself. As a favor, Zack gets him an in with a busy construction group, and so Jason finds himself stumbling home late after a few too many with the boys on school nights more often than not, and waking up with no recollection of how he got home (He’s not like his dad when he’s drunk. His dad, with his mean streak and his penchant for raising his voice, or his fists. He tells his reflection in the mirror that he isn’t like that. He never knows if his reflection believes him).

Billy copes by becoming non-verbal, and his mother cries. Years have passed since he had last been at that level of distress (back when his dad passed away), and she doesn’t know what to do. She just cries as his friends don’t come over anymore, and as he retreats into his basement, only coming out to go to training. He stops making eye contact (that had taken years, his mother laments), stops eating meals at the table, stops going to school, and just spends all his time in the basement (The only signs he even exists are the soft country music that trickles up the stairs from time to time, and crashing of whatever he’s working on when he inevitably pushes it off his workbench in anger).

Zack does everything in his power to stay busy enough to avoid them. He can feel their irritation. He gets it; he'd wanted to go to college at some point too, but he has known for a while that college wasn't in the cards for him. When he's at work or with his mom, he does everything he can to push the other rangers' feelings aside and ignore them. It doesn't always work.

 

* * *

 

They’re all three weeks from graduation when Billy bursts into the Pit, uncharacteristically late, with a big grin on his face. His abundant energy is so distracting that Jason falters mid-punch, only to be swept off his feet by Zack. Alpha 5 tilts their head, confused by the sudden lack of melancholy, and comments on the sudden increase in serotonin levels in the Blue Ranger, which has Kim and Trini glancing at each other, perturbed. Billy ignores Alpha, bouncing on the balls of his feet with barely contained excitement. 

“I’m going to college!”

Trini scoffs, before getting up from the boulder she had been sitting on and dusting herself off (Kim doesn’t look at Trini’s butt. She doesn’t... Except she does). Angel Grove was too small to even have a community college, what the heck was Billy going on about? They’d all been over this already. “And I’m the Queen of England.” She growls, scowling, as she tramps away from the group.

Billy’s brows furrow and Jason’s heart sinks a little as Billy’s lips twist into a small frown. “No you’re not the- Oh, that was sarcasm. Right.” A pause, during which his blinding grin slides back into place. “But I’m really going to college! Well, not going, really, because of the Zeo crystal, but I’m planning on applying for a couple colleges for engineering, because there’s online courses available! I thought we would never be able to, you know, travel out of Angel Grove and fulfill our dreams, but we can still be more than just Power Rangers! And online courses are cheaper, so maybe, if you’re all interested in applying, we could look into pooling our resources and buying one of those houses that got abandoned after the whole Rita thing? And we could have our own little dormitory experience together?”

Trini pauses halfway through Billy’s little rant, eyes widening.  _ Shit _ . Why hadn’t they thought of online college programs? A smile starts creeping across her face as she takes a deep breath, her shoulders suddenly feeling less weighed down. She turns back around to the other Rangers to see Kim, beaming, pick Alpha 5 up and whirls them around in ecstasy. Jason, his back still dusty from the floor of the Pit, is silently, happily, shocked by this idea (His eyes glisten softly, but no one notices). Zack is behind them all, smirking at them all, but his eyes sparkle with mirth. He’s lets out an excited yell before running over to and backflipping off the wall.

 

* * *

 

That night, they hold a bonfire. Billy prattles on about missed application deadlines, gap years, and different school options for each of them from his spot by the flames. Jason absorbs it all with bright eyes and a soft smile from across the fire. Zack jokes about becoming a badass hacker, after which Billy immediately starts talking about some computery things which… well, Kim’s head is still spinning from all these new revelations, so she can barely register that stuff. She’s still wrapping her head around the fact that she had shredded all the acceptance letters she had received months ago. Before Rita, before everything fell apart, she had applied to as many pre-med programs as she could. Could she still-?

“What’s on that beautiful mind of yours, Princess?”

Kim starts at that, whipping her head to her right to see Trini, slouching, with her legs splayed wide. Trini’s eyes sparkle mischievously as she takes a swig from a dark bottle. Trini hasn’t called Kim anything beyond “Hart” or “bitch” for months (not that any of them had been any better), and the return of the pet-name has Kim heart swelling. Kim feels a little brave for the first time in a while. A shaky smile spreads across her face before she shuffles her butt closer to the other girl, face flushed (it’s the alcohol, right?), trying to articulate this light, weightless feeling in her chest. Hesitantly, she places her hand a hair’s breadth away from Trini’s.

“I always wanted to be a doctor, you know?”

Trini nods for her to continue.

“I kinda, well… I thought I wouldn’t have the chance, what with the Rangers and stuff.” She inhales, holds it, then exhales, eyes fluttering shut. “I’ve been so broken up about never getting to… I almost forgot what hope tastes like.” Her fingers twitch slightly as Trini moves her hand to cover hers, but she doesn’t move it.

“Me too.”

When Kim shuffles even closer to Trini (it's because the fire is dying down, and it's kinda chilly... not, you know, any other reason), intertwines their fingers, and leans her head onto Trini's beanie, she feels Trini's heart sing.

 

* * *

 

Three weeks later, they graduate. Zack laughs at them all from the audience as they throw their stupid caps in the air, and posts the whole thing on Snapchat.

> ( _ “I’m **everyone’s** hype man!” _
> 
> _ “No you’re not.” _
> 
> _ “My babies are all graduating… I’m so proud of them!” _
> 
> _ “Shut the fuck up, Zack, or I’ll jam this stupid gown up your ass.” _
> 
> _ “You dig this ass, Crazy Girl.” _
> 
> _ “You wish I did, fuckwad.” _
> 
> _... _
> 
> _ “I’m surprised Trini didn’t trip on the gown, to be honest. I was kinda worried...” _
> 
> _ “ **Seriously** , Princess?!” _ )
> 
>  

* * *

 

After some long conversations with parents about future directions, they pool together the money that had been intended to go to dorm life and Ivy-league tuitions to buy a small two-story fixer upper (Zack and Jason have to pick their jaws up off the floor when they hear about the modest returns from Billy’s mom’s investments. Life insurance can certainly grow with some smart market analysis, she’d told them. Kimberly’s education trust fund had the two of them black out). Zack and his mom sell their trailer and move into the main floor. Billy and his tools move into the basement, and Jason, Kim and Trini move into the top floor. Zack and Jason (and Jason’s construction buddies) help spruce everything up so that it’s liveable (and accessible, for Zack’s mom), and they all find part-time jobs to fill their gap year.

There’s still plenty of manual labour to be done around the town, and it pays surprisingly well. Zack, Jason and Kim become legendary for their ridiculous work-related competitions, and Billy's efficiency doesn't go unnoticed. Trini's tiny stature comes in hand at many a job site, and soon everyone is vying for the Ranger team to work with them.

Somehow, they don’t all kill each other  ~~but that’s not for lack of trying~~.

 

* * *

 

 

One year later, when the first hints of summer are in the air, Trini is tackled from behind. She pitches forward, scrabbling to catch the doorframe to her and Kim's shared room, but doesn't quite make it. Shoving the offending individual off of her back, she flips over and scowls. Kim's lucky Trini doesn't get rug burn anymore, or she'd be dead. "What the _**fuck**_ , Kim?"

" _ **It's a big envelope Trini** **!!!**_ " Kim's grin is splitting her face, large white envelope clutched in her hands. Trini knows Kim has been too ~~nervous~~ busy to open the acceptance email sitting in her inbox, but _everyone_ knew what a big envelope means. Trini can't help it when her lips curl into a smile, thinking of the large, unopened white envelope on her nightstand. From downstairs, she hears a celebratory whoop from Zack, his mom cheering him on. Billy's excited clapping filters up to her ears, and she can hear both Billy and Jason talking over each other in their haste to let their families know that " _ **WE** **GOT IN** **!!!**_ ".

Their next chapter is finally beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> I blame the internet for this. (mainly tumblr and ao3)  
> I was supposed to be reading 2 novels and 3 articles tonight so I can have assignments in by Friday.  
> Instead I give you this.  
> Damn you.


End file.
